Don't Applaud Violence

Sports Forum - Letters to the sports editor

January 12, 1992

I COULD hear the angry snap of newspapers as Magic fans read about the heavy fine and two-game suspension of Greg Kite. I was at Orlando Arena the night Kite and Miami's Rony Seikaly decided to settle the Magic-Heat rivalry with their fists, and I got mad, too.

One minute we were watching a basketball team, and the next all attention shifted to Kite and Seikaly. With Kite on top and his hands spread over Seikaly's face, the two men fell onto a table and rolled onto the floor. Both players were ejected from the game. As they escorted Kite from the arena, 80 percent of the crowd stood, applauding and whistling their support.

I wondered if I missed something, and I felt a little foolish sitting quietly in my seat while those around me cheered.

In one breath we say we are appalled at the increasing reports of violence in our schools and in our neighborhoods. In the next breath thousands of adults - and children - give a standing ovation to a basketball player for trying to beat up a member of another team. I was mad when I read the story about the fines, too. Not because I care whether Kite or Seikaly were given a fair distribution of fines, but because so many people seemed to enjoy the fight more that they enjoyed the game.